


Pococurante

by toomanyunfinishedfics



Category: Persona 5
Genre: "Didn't you already write a fic like this" shhhh, Akira lies and withholds information from Ryuji, Akira's still kind of a jerk, Also there's a brief mention of off-screen major character death at the beginning, And I mean this one is only fluffy comparatively speaking, But it was too fluffy so then I tried again, But it's more posturing on Akira's part than actual manipulation lol, Emotional Manipulation, He has a huge soft spot for Ryuji though but who wouldn't, Hurt/Comfort, I actually wrote this one before To Give Your Heart lmao, I didn't put the warning because it's not a major focus of the fic, It's the two parenthesis lines in the first scene if that bothers anyone, Just less so lmao, M/M, Spoilers, There is some kinda-sorta hand-wavey, This Akira is a bit nicer than the one in TGYH but like I said, and also, and regretted it because it hurt too much salkdfj, because who would I be if I didn't squeeze in some h/c at every opportunity lol, for the bad end where you take Yaldy's deal, he's still a jerk lol, there's also some
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-24
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:13:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23299123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toomanyunfinishedfics/pseuds/toomanyunfinishedfics
Summary: Boredom is poison to those gifted with power--and as a god with infinite power at his fingertips, Akira quickly finds himself growing bored of playing Phantom Thieves with his teammates holding him back. There’s only one person left that can still capture his interest….
Relationships: Amamiya Ren/Sakamoto Ryuji, Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110





	Pococurante

**Author's Note:**

> ~~Everybody else: _posts cute fluffy fics about kissing Ryuji_  
>  Me: _posts whatever the hell this is_~~
> 
> Sooooo I was going to try and write a fic for kiss Ryuji day but my brain decided to go on strike, but I wanted to post _something_ so I dug up this old fic that I wrote like two years ago and never posted and decided why not, Akira kisses the back of Ryuji's hand in this so that still counts as a kiss right?? Lmao;;

When he’d accepted Yaldabaoth’s offer, Akira hadn’t expected to actually obtain the powers of a god.

Not that he was complaining, of course--after being made to feel so powerless so many times, by the cruel society that he’d risked life and limb to protect no less, it felt good to have so much raw power at his fingertips.

He could do anything he wanted, and no one could stop him. Not Igor, not Lavenza, not Shido, not _anyone_.

The best part was getting to see his friends’ faces again--all alive and well, completely unaware of everything that happened after their final trip into the depths of Mementos, just as Yaldabaoth had promised.

(Morgana was absent, oddly enough, though the knowledge that came with his new status as god quickly filled in the blanks: Morgana was the representation of humanity’s hope in fighting against Yaldabaoth’s corruption of society--and when Akira had taken Yaldabaoth’s offer, that last spark of hope had vanished.)

(Akira should have felt more than just a small twinge of guilt for erasing one of his friends from existence, but if it meant that he got to walk out of this with the majority of his friends and the power of a god, then logically it had been the right choice.)

* * *

Corruption continued to spread through Japan like wildfire, and each time the Phantom Thieves were there to put an end to it, their popularity skyrocketing once more.

(Akira wiping Okumura’s death from everyone’s minds may have also contributed to their quick turnaround in public opinion, but at least Haru wouldn’t have anyone to grieve over anymore--and as a favor, he helped settle all the issues with her father’s company as well. It was incredible what even just a fraction of his powers could do to bend the very fabric of reality to his whim.)

It was a few months into his time as a god on Earth that he found himself beginning to grow bored: he easily aced every exam in school, everyone admired and respected him, his probation had been lifted thanks to Shido being arrested (and thanks to Akira’s own supernatural involvement, assuring that Shido would be thoroughly punished for all his crimes even without a witness to testify to everything), and he’d even arranged to stay in Tokyo at LeBlanc instead of forcing himself to return home; yet still, even after everything, the allure of popularity and of taking down corrupt adult after corrupt adult had worn off, making everything feel like nothing more than a chore.

Especially since he had to tone down his power to match his teammates.

Honestly, they were starting to become more and more of a hindrance to him as time went on--he just wanted to be able to let loose instead of constantly bottling up the endless power coursing through him, nearly to the point of driving him mad, but there was still a small part of him (the last traces of his humanity, he supposed) that was wary of letting his friends discover the truth.

Not that it really mattered in the end, of course. If they ever _did_ find out, he could always just erase their memories and move on, and maybe even take it as an opportunity to break his ties with them and find something else to stave off his boredom--the Phantom Thieves could continue changing hearts without him, and if they couldn’t then it was all the more proof that they’d been holding him back this entire time.

Still, that small, annoying voice in the back of his head refused to let him toss his friends aside no matter how tired of them he was; and so even though he didn’t want to deal with the inevitable fallout that would come from them discovering his new status as god and how he obtained his power, he supposed he would just have to handle it whenever that day came.

Akira just wasn’t expecting that day to be today.

Admittedly, he hadn’t been paying attention to how long he spent in Mementos, so he supposed he only had himself to blame: he’d gone as deep into Mementos as he could without entering the depths so that he could have a slight modicum of a challenge against the shadows lurking around, grinning manically and letting his power flow freely without even needing to summon a Persona as he completely eradicated shadows that would give his entire team trouble with just a wave of his arm.

Apparently he’d spent long enough in Mementos by himself that Futaba had sent someone to look for him.

Apparently he’d _also_ spent long enough in Mementos that the Reaper appeared.

Unfortunately, the two arrived at the floor that Akira was on at about the same time.

Akira frowned in annoyance as he caught sight of the Reaper moving towards Ryuji, who in turn was rushing towards him without having noticed the dangerous shadow looming behind him.

“Skull, pay attention and _turn around_.”

Ryuji didn’t have time to react as the Reaper went to strike him from behind, and Akira sighed as he raised his arm. He may have grown bored of dealing with his teammates, but that didn’t mean he was heartless enough to just stand by and watch one of them get hurt (or worse)--he hadn’t reached that level of apathy just yet.

(The small piece of humanity screamed from the back of his mind: _Not Ryuji, anyone but Ryuji, please don’t let anything happen to Ryuji--_ )

Ryuji yelped as he was roughly tugged to the side by an invisible force, paling slightly as a crater from a Vorpal Blade formed where he had just been standing--and whatever color was left in his face immediately drained as he looked up at the intimidating shadow standing hardly a few feet away from him.

Ryuji wasn’t given the opportunity to so much as open his mouth before he felt his feet lifting off the ground, and he yelped and flailed, his eyes wide as he was pulled backwards and set down behind Akira, who moved his arm down in time with Ryuji’s feet lowering to touch the ground.

“J… Joker, what the hell’s--”

“Stay quiet, and stay put,” Akira commanded as he took a step forward, unable to help the smirk from rising back onto his face as he let his power flow once more.

Screw keeping up appearances at this point. The Reaper was the perfect shadow to face off against for a bit of fun, and Akira wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity, audience or not.

Ryuji hardly even noticed his shaking legs giving out on him as he watched Akira fighting the monstrous shadow--he knew he should have been helping Akira, but one look at the Reaper had left his body practically paralyzed.

Seeing everything Akira was doing didn’t exactly help his fear any, either--not when his best friend was somehow fighting the Reaper without even using a Persona.

Akira laughed, the sound sending a chill rushing down Ryuji’s spine, as the Reaper began to dissolve and fade away, the look on his face and the golden glow in his eyes causing Ryuji to tense up as he fought the urge to back away.

“... Joker…? What--” Ryuji forced himself to snap out of it as he shakily rose to his feet. “What the hell is going on?”

“I suppose the truth had to come out at some point or another.” Akira rolled his shoulders as he approached Ryuji. “Long story short, I’m essentially a god now.”

“... Dude, _what_?”

There was no trace of joking on Akira’s face, but even despite the impossible battle that he’d just witnessed (Akira fought the most powerful shadow and won _without even using a Persona how the fuck_ ), he couldn’t help but feel skeptical.

“Do you really need proof even after all this?” Akira asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

“I-I mean, saying you’re a _god_ outta nowhere’s like… how’s anyone supposed to just say ‘oh okay sure’ like it’s nothing?” Ryuji looked torn, obviously bewildered but also reluctant to doubt Akira no matter how crazy his claim was. “And I mean, how’d this happen outta nowhere, anyway? Or what, were you hiding this from us this whole time? None of this makes any sense, man.”

Akira sighed. “Well, I suppose that’s to be expected….” He lifted his hand and curled his index finger, smirking as Ryuji let out a startled yelp as he was pulled towards Akira by an invisible force. “I _could_ just erase your memory of this and move on, but I’ve admittedly grown bored of keeping secrets--and if I had to pick anyone to tell, I suppose I wouldn’t mind sharing this secret with you.”

Ryuji flushed lightly at the close proximity, his head spinning as he tried to process everything that was happening. “But-- why d’you need to keep it a secret from us in the first place?? I-I mean, yeah this is… _really_ fuckin’ crazy, but we’ve been through plenty of crazy things already; I’m sure everyone would believe you--”

“Do _you_ believe me?”

Ryuji faltered. “I mean… do I believe that you got some crazy-ass powers outta nowhere? Sure, why not, weirder shit’s happened. Do I believe that you’ve got a big enough ego to call yourself a god ‘cuz of it? Yeah, you’re pretty over the top, so that ain’t surprising either. But… dude, if you seriously expect me to believe that you’re _actually_ a god--”

Akira raised an eyebrow. “What if I performed a miracle as proof?”

Ryuji snorted. “Like what, walking on water or some shit like that?”

“No, I was thinking something a bit more… _personal_.”

With that, Akira reached out and put his hand on top of Ryuji’s bad leg, startling him--but before he could pull away or ask what Akira was doing, his eyes widened and the color drained from his face.

The pain was gone.

The ever-present twinge in his leg was _gone_ , and suddenly his leg felt better than it had in months.

“Well?” Akira asked as he pulled his hand back. “Is that enough proof for you?”

Ryuji opened and closed his mouth, his throat feeling tight. This wasn’t just a Metaverse thing--Ryuji knew because they’d _tried_ , Akira had been so insistent on at least _trying_ to heal his leg even if Ryuji told him it would be pointless, and he’d been so _disappointed_ when it hadn’t worked that Ryuji had been the one to try and cheer him up despite it being his own leg that hadn’t been able to be healed.

This was real. Akira literally just performed a miracle right in front of his eyes, and he could feel the proof settling into his very bones.

No more pain medication and visits to doctors reminding him that he was beyond help, no more straining to push himself distances that he could easily have run before, no more limping and struggling to keep his gait light so as not to worry his friends with the pain that he was in--

Akira’s expression faltered slightly in surprise when he saw Ryuji tearing up. “... Skull?”

Ryuji laughed weakly, shakily raising a hand under his mask to wipe his eyes before his tears had the chance to fall. “I can’t believe…. Is this for real? Is this really happening? D’you even--no, of course you know what you just did; you always cared more about what happened to my leg than anyone else--but you just… just like _that_ , you seriously….” Something in his expression shifted as he finally looked back at Akira. “... You’re really a god. Holy _shit_ , you’re really… that’s… fuck, I don’t get _how_ or _why_ , but I don’t think I even _care_ at this point.”

Akira reached out and gently pulled Ryuji forward, unable to help but smirk as Ryuji easily fell against his chest and immediately wrapped his arms around him before choking out a quiet thank you.

He should have figured that Ryuji would be the easiest one to convince, and the one that would ask the least amount of questions--he’d practically put Akira on a pedestal since day one, so it wasn’t too surprising to feel how his admiration quickly shifted to reverence in the face of what had been (to him) the most personal and heartfelt miracle Akira could have ever performed.

Well, the _second_ most, rather. Akira knew what, to Ryuji, would be an even bigger miracle, but he would save those three words for another time--and use them to assure that he had Ryuji completely and utterly wrapped around his finger.

(Not that he didn’t care for Ryuji, of course--he still held a soft spot for him, perhaps due to the love he felt for Ryuji back when he was still human; feelings that he’d wished so desperately that he’d conveyed as he saw Ryuji disappearing right in front of his eyes along with the rest of his friends. Now, however, all that was left was a faint, detached recollection, though it was enough that it made the desire for Ryuji to stay by his side and revere him as a god stronger than the desire to erase his memory to avoid him asking any annoying questions, especially now that he knew and accepted what Akira had become.)

“Can you promise to keep this a secret between us?” Akira asked after Ryuji’s quiet sobs had died down.

“I-- yeah, of course, but… why?” Ryuji pulled back slightly, quickly drying his face in embarrassment before looking at Akira. “I’m sure they’d believe you too--”

Akira put a finger to Ryuji’s lips to silence him, smirking as his face immediately flushed in response. “I want to keep this our little secret, just you and me.”

Ryuji’s blush darkened at that--as much as he loved his friends, the idea of having something between him and Akira that no one else had (even if it wasn’t exactly the kind of special thing he wanted to have between them) was too tempting to pass up.

He’d had to share Akira ever since Ann made their duo into a trio, and the more people that joined their group afterwards, the more people Ryuji had to share Akira with. Hangouts between them grew more and more sparse, Akira’s gaze and attention was always split between multiple people….

But right now, it was just him and Akira, and Akira was giving him the opportunity to share in something that would be theirs and theirs alone--how could he possibly refuse?

“... Alright.” A thought occurred to Ryuji, and he added worriedly, “But everyone’ll notice that my leg’s fixed--I can’t exactly hide something like that.”

(He didn’t _want_ to hide it, either--the first thing he wanted to do after leaving the Metaverse was run, and _run_ , and **_run_** until his legs and lungs were both burning.)

“Just leave that to me,” Akira responded with a smug smirk. “I can easily make it so no one will even think twice about your leg being fixed.”

“For real? You can do that?”

Akira laughed. “Skull, I can do _anything_. I could easily fix everything, if you wanted: I could alter everyone’s memory about what happened between you and Kamoshida, I could fix your reputation and make everyone like you, and I could even get you back onto the track team.”

Ryuji’s eyes widened slightly as he took a second to think about what it would be like--what it _was_ like, back when he was the star of the track team, when he was popular and admired and still had a future to look forward to.

Except… he _did_ have a future to look forward to. Granted, it wasn’t the future that he’d first envisioned back when he joined the track team, but….

“Heh. Thanks, but no thanks,” Ryuji responded, cracking a grin as Akira looked at him in surprise. “Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like a great offer--but honestly? I’m already past all that. I don’t need to have everyone like me, or to be part of the track team anymore. I mean….” He hesitated slightly out of embarrassment, scratching his flushed cheek lightly as he continued. “I don’t need to belong there, not when my place is next to you… y’know? But I really do appreciate you wanting to help.”

Akira was caught off-guard by the sweet comment, his expression softening slightly into what was probably the first genuine smile he’d made since before everything in his life went to hell.

(Funny, he didn’t even think he was capable of feeling so… _endeared_ towards someone anymore--but if it had to be anyone that dragged those feelings back out of him, unintentionally or not, of course it would be Ryuji.)

“I suppose you have a point--but my offer stands, if you ever change your mind.” Akira took Ryuji’s gloved hand in his own, bringing it up to his lips and kissing the back of it with a smirk, thoroughly enjoying the sight of Ryuji’s face turning bright red and his eyes going wide in shock. “Now, unless we want another Reaper to show up, we should get moving.”

“Huh? O-oh, yeah, right,” Ryuji replied awkwardly, still feeling flustered by the sudden display of affection (he wasn’t _against_ it--far from it, honestly--but at the same time _what the hell??_ ), and he’d hardly even noticed that Akira let go of his hand and started walking until he felt himself suddenly being dragged forward by an invisible force.

Akira smirked in amusement as Ryuji yelped and flailed his arms, releasing him from his hold once he was back at Akira’s side.

“Try and keep up,” Akira teased. “Unless you want me to carry you all the way back?”

“I can walk on my own, thanks--you damn show-off,” Ryuji responded wryly, jokingly bumping his shoulder against Akira’s as he walked past him.

“Oh, that’s not me showing off.” Akira walked alongside him, smirking and cutting down a hulking shadow that began wandering closer to them with a single wave of his arm. “ _That’s_ me showing off.”

Ryuji whistled appreciatively, awe clearly shining through his eyes as he grinned. “Damn, you’ve really been holding out, huh?”

“You have _no_ idea.” Akira chuckled. “And I’m planning to keep it that way, as annoying as it may be at times. The less questions I have to answer, the better.”

“Questions?” Ryuji looked at him curiously. “Like what?”

Akira glanced at Ryuji out of the corner of his eye. “... Do you trust me?”

“Huh?” Ryuji blinked in confusion. “Course I do, why?”

“Then don’t ask. There are some things I’d rather not have to explain, and I’m admittedly a bit reluctant at this point to erase your memory.”

Ryuji frowned, running a hand through his hair and letting out a sigh before smiling weakly. “Alright. Like I said, I trust you, so I’m not gonna ask.”

Akira couldn’t help but smile as he reached out and ruffled Ryuji’s hair. “I knew you’d understand.”

Ryuji blushed and weakly swatted Akira’s hand away in embarrassment as he walked a bit faster. “Yeah yeah, whatever. Now c’mon, let’s go already.”

Akira smirked and waved a hand, his eyes gleaming with amusement as Ryuji yelped and flailed, his hasty embarrassed retreat halted as he began floating in midair.

“Yeah, I definitely made the right choice in letting you keep your memories.” Akira chuckled. “I doubt I’m going to be bored again for a long, _long_ time.”

Ryuji glared weakly at Akira, more embarrassed than angry as he huffed. “So what, you’re just gonna keep messin’ with me for your amusement now?”

Akira approached Ryuji, running a finger up Ryuji’s throat to rest under his chin with a smirk still on his face as he replied, “Consider it an honor--it means you’re the only one I haven’t grown bored of.”

Ryuji swayed slightly as he was lowered back to his feet, his face flushed.

He wanted to give a sarcastic remark, but… hell, he’d barely considered himself worthy of Akira’s time and attention _before_ , let alone now that he was a literal _god_ \--so it really _was_ an honor that, out of all the amazing friends they had and all the amazing people Akira surrounded himself with, he enjoyed being around a pathetic no-good idiot like Ryuji the most.

Akira seemed to sense where Ryuji’s thoughts were heading (or maybe he could just read Ryuji’s mind now--who even knew what Akira was capable of anymore) as he gave him a smile and held out his hand to him.

“Now let’s go home, shall we?”

It was because there was no real need for Akira to hold his hand that Ryuji felt his heart swelling as he reached out, grasping Akira’s outstretched hand in his own with a grin.

“Yeah, let’s go home.”

(Akira may have become a god, but even if there were little changes here and there to his personality and mannerisms--ones that he’d thought were just his imagination before, but made so much sense in hindsight now--Ryuji could tell that he was still the same Akira deep down that he knew and loved.)

As they returned to the top floor of Mementos, Akira pulled out his phone and sent a text to the group chat to let them know that he was fine and with Ryuji, only turning his attention back to Ryuji when he felt him nervously tightening his grip on his hand.

“It’s permanent, don’t worry,” Akira said.

Ryuji looked over at Akira in surprise, his face flushing in embarrassment as Akira smirked at him.

“I don’t need to be able to read your mind to tell what you’re thinking.”

“That’s-- but _can_ you read my mind??”

Akira winked at him, a smirk still on his face as he began walking towards the exit of Mementos, pulling a flustered Ryuji along behind him. “I’ll leave that up to your imagination.”

“Dude, please don’t,” Ryuji joked weakly, tensing up slightly when the Metaverse melted away around them before relaxing in relief when he still felt no pain in his leg.

Akira smiled. “See? I told you.”

“... Yeah, you did.”

Akira couldn’t help but bask in the expression that Ryuji directed at him: the sheer _reverence_ in Ryuji’s eyes as he stared at him, like he would find a way to move mountains and grab the stars from the sky if Akira so much as said the word, was enough to make Akira’s already-inflated ego swell even more.

Yeah--so long as he kept Ryuji by his side, he _definitely_ wouldn’t be bored anymore.


End file.
